Attention to the Unseen

The Guardian reports: Rightwing, populist and nationalist leaders have welcomed Boris Johnson’s imminent arrival at No 10 Downing St after Donald Trump praised the UK’s new prime minister as a “Britain Trump” who was “tough and smart” and would “do a great job”. In Italy, Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right, anti-immigration League and deputy prime minister, wished Johnson “all the best”, adding: “The fact that on the left they are painting him as ‘more dangerous than the League’ makes…

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Wealth distribution in the United States Congress. They don't look like the rest of us. pic.twitter.com/JBKBcUmkoD — Jeffrey Levin (@jilevin) July 24, 2019

Having won the support of 92,153 members of the Conservative Party, Boris Johnson has the privilege of entering 10 Downing Street without having to win an election. The minuscule voting pool didn’t prevent Donald Trump drawing the ridiculous conclusion that Johnson’s victory means Britons like Trump. "Good man," says Pres Trump of Britain's next Prime Minister Boris Johnson. "He's tough and he's smart," @POTUS tells conservative teen student summit. Says Johnson is known as "Britain's Trump. They like me over…

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The New York Times reports: History will record last week as a moment when President Trump turned to raw racial appeals to attack a group of nonwhite lawmakers, but his attacks also underscored a remarkable fact of his first term: His rhetorical appeals to white working-class voters have not been matched by legislative accomplishments aimed at their economic interests. As Mr. Trump was lashing out at Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna S. Pressley, House Democrats were…

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In an editorial, the Washington Post says: Chinese officials and state media were in high dudgeon Monday about minor acts of vandalism following the latest mass demonstration in Hong Kong. Protesters who threw eggs at China’s liaison office and splashed ink on the state emblem “trample on the rule of law,” roared a front-page editorial in the People’s Daily. Yet Beijing had little to say about the genuinely shocking incident that followed: an assault by an organized group of men…

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Middle East Eye reports: Israeli bulldozers joined by hundreds of soldiers and police demolished Palestinian homes on the outskirts of East Jerusalem on Monday, in the face of local protests and international criticism. The Israeli forces moved into the Palestinian village of Sur Bahir in the early hours to demolish 11 buildings, including dozens of homes, in the Wadi Hummus neighbourhood close to the barrier which cuts the West Bank from Jerusalem. By late afternoon, at least one resident had…

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Politico reports: Constant infighting among top officials. Sudden departures of senior staffers without explanation. A leader who is disengaged and prone to falling asleep in meetings. The Commerce Department has reached its apex of dysfunction under Wilbur Ross, according to four people with knowledge of the inner workings of the department. The 81-year-old Commerce secretary, who has for months endured whispers that he is on the outs, spends much of his time at the White House to try to retain…

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Trump says if you don’t love America, leave it. He’s been bashing the US for years. pic.twitter.com/b7humVud7W — Scott Dworkin (@funder) July 21, 2019 If Trump’s electioneering mantra, “we’re like a Third World country,” ever sounded like a hyperbolic economic assessment of America, have no doubt it was simply and crudely a dog whistle to those of his white supporters who believe non-whites don’t belong here and should “go back” where they come from. Make America Great Again has always…

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Isabel Hardman writes: Ever since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as leader of the Labour party, many of his MPs have dreamed of deposing him. They’ve tried mass shadow ministerial resignations, a no-confidence motion, even a formal leadership contest — but to no avail. Some, like Chuka Umunna, left the party, hoping (in vain) that others would join their breakaway group. Other MPs gave up hope, resigned and found jobs outside of politics — concluding no plot would ever work. But…

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Robert Zaretsky writes: In 1943, an obscure staff member of the London-based Free French Forces completed a short proposal for a new way to do politics following her country’s liberation. The author, Simone Weil, passed away soon after, while her paper, quickly shelved, baffled her colleagues. For a resistance movement committed to salvaging a democratic and republican France, a paper titled “On the Abolition of All Political Parties” was something of an outrage. Little more than 75 years later, though…

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